It would be naive to assume that everyone’s longing for the past or their childhoods, however. Someone who’s had a rough upbringing or had a very tough time just putting food on the table probably won’t remember those years with carefree fondness.
These life lessons can certainly toughen someone up, make them resilient, and prepare them to take on the world later on. However, they’re most likely not going to have the same sense of lighthearted wonder when they see clips from the cartoons they used to watch.
It’s when you get lost in nostalgia and yearning for the good old days that it helps to remember what you’re grateful for. Yes, times have changed and you’ve lost a lot of things as the decades rolled by. However, there are lots of things in your present to be thankful for.
That might be as simple as remembering that you have a roof over your head and food on your table. Or you may need to think harder about all the people whom you care about (and who care for you!) in your life right now. Gratitude helps ground us.
The important thing is to learn to enjoy small trips down memory lane without getting lost in the past. Nostalgia can help us cope in the present, but we want to avoid constantly comparing the past with what surrounds us now. If we think that nothing is or ever will be ‘as good’ as way back then, then we’re only going to sour our mood.
If this sort of thinking starts affecting the quality of your day-to-day routine, you may want to reach out to a therapist for help. They’ll be able to give you a fresh perspective on how you relate to the passage of time. We must all learn to be present in the here-and-now, and have something to look forward to in the future.
Which of these nostalgic memes caught your attention the most, dear Pandas? Which of the cartoons and movies featured in these pics did you enjoy the most when you were younger? What do you miss the most about the past? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Scroll down to the comment section to tell us all about it!
In the meantime, for some more blasts from the past, consider taking a peek at Bored Panda’s earlier features about the ‘Ouch, Right in the Childhood’ social media project.
